Sangre Chronicle > Archives > Angel Fire > Much-needed Angel Fire water credits hinge on missing documents

ANGEL FIRE The village of Angel Fire could get more much-needed water supplies upon completion of certain documentation up to two decades past due, the State Engineers Office reported last week.

The village requested a variety of water consumption credits through a return-flow report filed with the State Engineers Office in 2005. The report suggests the village should be allowed to take more from its wells because much of the water used by the municipality returns to the ecosystem as a result of snow-making, land applications, septic discharge, golf-course irrigation, waterline breaks and waterline leaks.

In a letter delivered to Angel Fire Manager M. Jay Mitchell last week, however, Sheldon Dorman of the State Engineers Office wrote the village will not be eligible for any water credits until the municipality files a variety of documentation that should have been submitted from 1992-2013.

Among the missing documents are 23 well-completion reports due Nov. 30, 1992, a well-completion report due Dec. 30, 2008, and proof of beneficial water use due Oct. 31, 2013, Dorman wrote. Another well-completion report is due March 31 of this year, he wrote.

Dorman also wrote that the only water credits available to the village are for snow-making and sewer discharge.

It is recommended that credit for return flow for golf course irrigation, septic tanks, land application and unaccounted water such as leakage will not be granted to the Village of Angel Fire, a memo from the State Engineers Office states.

Although Angel Fires return-flow report suggests 79 percent of its water used for snow-making returns to the ecosystem, the memo states the villages snow-making credit would be based on an analysis for the Santa Fe Ski Company. Angel Fire Resort used an average of 84.24 acre-feet of the villages water for snow-making during each of the last three winter seasons, according to municipal records.

If the Santa Fe study came back and actually showed that theres a higher level of evaporation or something like that, it might be a lower (credit), Mitchell said.

Through the sewer-discharge credit, Mitchell said, the village would be allowed to use an additional acre-foot of water for every acre-foot of effluent released into the Cineguilla Creek. Although the village has the ability and permits to discharge about 1,120 acre-feet of water into the creek each year, the municipality released an average of only 63.08 acre-feet during each of the last six years.

This is why we need to get more people hooked up on our sewage system. We dont get septic credit. Its metered, so anything we process, clean and discharge, we get one-for-one credit on it, Mitchell said. ...Out of just roughly over 1,800 water customers that the village has, weve only got 389 that are on our sewer system.

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Sangre Chronicle > Archives > Angel Fire > Much-needed Angel Fire water credits hinge on missing documents